Paleo Chocolate Crinkles

I’ve been seriously neglectful about writing lately. Vacations, holidays, and family events have made my schedule a bit chaotic but I’m back now! My family (and hopefully, my schedule) is entering a slower time. I’ve got dozens of posts I’ve been meaning to write and now have more time to devote to it! I’m going to start with a reintroduction of Paleo Chocolate Crinkles!

First off, is this revamp of one of of my very first recipe posts! It’s the perfect time to recreate this recipe for chocolate crinkles, right? Christmas is a week from tomorrow and I’m sure you all are in full baking swing! I know I am!

Before going gluten free, I used to be an awesome baker. I was known for some amazing recipes including pizzelles, a German chocolate cake to DIE for, and I could make Smitten Kitchen’s Bourbon Peach Hand Pies like nobody’s business. But now that I’m gluten free, my baking style has significantly changed. I just couldn’t master the art of gluten-free baking for the longest time! And grain-free? Forget about it!

Paleo Chocolate Crinkles

However, I experimented with a grain-free chocolate crinkles recipe this weekend in preparation for all the holiday baking that’s sure to come my way soon and they came out fabulous! This recipe only made 15 cookies for me (I’ve made it several times now and always 15). The first go around, I used almond butter solely. The second time, I used half almond butter/ half tahini. And while they both tasted great, the one with all almond butter held together better. This could be because I slightly overcooked the second batch or it could have been the tahini. I’m not sure. You could easily make these with peanut butter, if you eat that. Peanuts have a distinct flavor to them though. But who doesn’t like chocolate and peanut butter?!

I’ve also learned that the brand of ingredients matters when it comes to grain-free baking. Quantities and measurements change depending on the consistency of your ingredients and changing something can throw off an entire recipe! As I revamped this recipe, my quantities changed significantly. So, with this rewrite, I’ve listed the brands I used for each item so hopefully, if you try this recipe, you won’t be frustrated with your cookies turning out differently.

As an example, the first time I made this recipe, I used Thrive Market’s chunky almond butter. This time, I used Trader Joe’s smooth almond butter. Changing that brand made my batter much thinner. Like cake batter thin. So I had to double the amount of flour. Doubling the amount of flour, and you have to adjust the sweetener! You can see the spiral you could get into. But these cookies were up to the task and came out beautifully! I’m sure these paleo chocolate crinkles will be a highlight on your Christmas cookie board!